Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has picked his new No. 3 batter while announcing his playing XI for the first Test against England, starting at Headingley in Leeds, beginning June 20. He believes that debutant Sai Sudharsan should play as the new number three in the series opener while backing captain Shubman Gill to fill
in Virat Kohli’s No. 4 place. Notably, Kohli retired from Tests last month alongside Rohit Sharma.
Ravi Shastri told the ICC Review: “It would be (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and with him will be KL. Rahul, because I think this is a big tour for him. He’s the most experienced of the batsmen. He opened last time when India toured England, got a hundred, (and) had a good tour. So, I would hope for him to open the innings. Three, I’ll go with the youngster, Sai Sudarshan. Whatever I’ve seen of him, he’s very impressive. This will be good exposure for him, this tour.”
Ravi Shastri said after Sudharsan won the IPL 2025 Orange Cap with 759 runs in 15 innings, including a century and six 50s for the Gujarat Titans (GT) as well. He also scored 527 runs in 12 innings for GT in the IPL 2024 season. In his first-class career, he has 1,957 runs in 49 innings, averaging 39.93 with the help of seven centuries and five fifties as well. Shastri further picked Karun Nair at No. 5 as well.
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“In all probability, depending on what current form is, it’ll be Karun Nair. He bats at five, it’s a long time since he played for India. Six will be (Rishabh) Pant. I think he (Nair) has worked really hard. He’s just worked his way back into the side. The number of runs he’s got in first-last cricket is incredible. And I met him during an IPL game. I said, ‘don’t just bang the door. Just kick it down and make your way in and walk into that side’. And I think he’s done just that. Just the number of runs that he’s got has made the selectors look in that direction and give him a place,” he further added.
Ravi Shastri also picked all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur or Nitish Kumar Reddy, alongside fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and one between Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna, depending on the conditions as well.
“I would go with three fast bowlers, (plus) Shardul Thakur. “I know it’ll be a tough one between Shardul and Nitish Reddy, but you have to see who bowls how much. If Reddy is going to give you 12, 14 overs, then he might get the nod because of his batting. And the three fast bowlers would be, I would go with Prasidh Krishna, I would go with Mohammed Siraj and of course Jasprit Bumrah. In Leeds, if it’s overcast and it’s cloudy, there might be the temptation of going with the left-armer Ashdeep Singh as well. So it will be Prasad, Prasidh Krishna/Ashdeep but the other two will be Siraj and Bumrah,” Ravi Shastri concluded.
